Saturday, June 6, 2009

To clamp or not

Today is another day of retirement. Didn’t do anything productive. We’re retired after all.

I did ride the scooter over to the Home Depot, to learn if I had really put the poly pipe back correctly. In one of the comments to this blog, reader ANT-Zee challenged me as to why I wouldn’t use clamps.

So I challenged the plumbing guy at the Home Depot the same way. Just to see what his opinion might be. Here is the short version.

Contractors use black poly between the valves and the sprinkler heads, since there is never any pressure to speak of, as the water is flowing out the sprayers onto the grass. Since they pull the pipe with vibrator machines, they seldom use clamps, because they don’t pull too well. The friction of the inside barb is adequate to hold it all together.

But he said most ‘do it your selfers’, do use clamps since they are not as worried about the cost, and they burry the pipe with a shovel. He asked if I tried to pull the pipe back apart once I had put it together. “Well yes, and I’m not sure I’m strong enough without a lot of twisting and bending”. “Then what else do you need to know” he asked?

So I’m not inclined to dig it back up, unless the ground becomes soaked. There’s a whole lot more joints in the yard without clamps, so I would really have my work cut out for me, if I wanted to install clamps.

Other than that, we have worked on the Blackberry to learn more about it. It is a full computer, and can be quite a challenge to learn everything. If you could learn everything. It amazes me that it could be so small and do so much.

I could even write this blog with it if necessary. The itty bitty keyboard would be a real challenge for blog writing. Why do I keep using the word ’challenge’?

Our temps here were in the early 80’s, with overcast to sunny skies. Beautiful!

1 comment:

I'm glad I was able to help fill your day! LOL. I am a residential landscape contractor. We actually use a product called turn-seal. it uses no clamps but ensures a permanent connection with a sort of barbed fitting and threaded tightner. We use it as it is faster than clamps. It is correct that the only time the line is pressurized is when the valve is open, however there is fairly significant pressure in the line, as it must be to actually SPRAY the water out the ends, right? I am sure you will have NO problems with the connections. Up here in Canada, we have an issue with expansion and contraction that causes grief alot. Like yesterday it was 75deg, and today (really) there is an inch of snow on the ground.